Vending device.



2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917.

R. H. BAKER. VENDING DEVICE; APPLICATION F LED AuG.5, 1912.

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R. H. BAKER.

VENDING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED AuG.5. 1912.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 6/ Y Y me/Mz gi/) 61mm,

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ROLLYN H. BAKER, DAYTON, GHIO.

VENDING DEVCE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1917..

Application filed August 5, 1912. Serial No. 713,217.

citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented anew and useful Vending Device, of which the following is a specification.

Mv invention relates to coin controlled vending devices, and, while some of its feature-s are adapted to be used in various forms of vending apparatus, the principal object of the present embodiment of the invention is to vend drinking cups and beverages; a cup and a drink is sold for one coin. Another object is to guard against coins of insufiicient diameter' purchasing, and to provide for returning rejected coins to the pur- Chaser., ln my United States Patent 983261, I disclosed, .but did not claim, certain novel features which are used in the present inventionand claimed in this application.

I am aware that cup vending and beverage vending devices are now in use, the

former being the product of the existing sentiment on the subject of sanitation. Beverage vending devices are, however, losing in popularity for the very reason which gave birth to cup vending devices g. viz., the marked and growing opposition to public drinking cups. This opposition, which has practically developed into a crusade, and brought about prohibitive vlegislation in a number of States, has rendered beverage vending devices impractical. Placing a cup vending device close to a beverage vending device has been found to help the situation but little; it means double expense and trouble-to the purchaser. 1With my apparatus, the purchaser places a single coin in the slot and turns the crank toward him;` this causes a folded paper cup to emerge far enough so he can draw it out. Opening the cup, he holds it under the spout while he returns the crank. rlhe whole transaction is quickly effected, and with very little trouble. More-y over, my device appeals to and gratifies an inclination few persons are strangers to: the proneness to get two things for the price of one-a bargain.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a. rear elevation with a portion of the casing removed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation also with the casing removed. Fig. 3 is a plan with a portion of the casing removed. Fig. 4 is a portion of the mechanism shown, 1n

Fig. l in its operative position. Fig. 5 is a side elevation partly in section on line 5 5 of Fig. 2, some parts being removed. Figs. 6 and 7 are details of construction; and Fig. 8 shows a portion of the reservoir, the pump and spout.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

On a base plate 10, which forms the cover of a reservoir, a pedestal 11 is mounted, said pedestal having a suitable guide in which a rack bar 12 slides. A gear` 13 mounted upon a shaft 14 journaled in the pedestal 11,`

meshes with the rack bar 12. The lower end of the rack bar terminates in a rod 15 (see Fig. 5) which is connected to the piston of a pump. A gear 16 rotatably mounted on the pedestal 11 -is enmeshed with the side of the rack, a ratchet wheel 17 being rigidly secured to the gear. A shaft 18 passing through the pedestal 11 has rigidly secured to one end an arm 19, while a lever 2() is rigidly'secured to the other end of said shaft.

A pawl 21 is pivotally mounted on the arm 19, the spring 22 moving the pawl in one direction and tending to keep it engaged with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17. A pin 23 carried by the pawl engages the lever 19 and limits the movement of the pawl in the direction in which it is actuated by the spring 22. A pin 25 carried by one end of the lever 20 reposes in a slot 26 in a lever 27, pivoted at 2S to the pedestal. The up per end of the lever 27 is connected by a link 29 to a lever 30, also pivotally mounted on the pedestal. The rack 12 has a pair of longitudinal grooves, 35 and 36, which are connected by a succession of oblique grooves 37. The rib 38 in which grooves 37 are out, is beveled on one side, which is shown most clearly in Fig. 6. The free end of lever 30 carries a spring-pressed plunger 31, the end of which is adapted to lie in one of the grooves 35 or 36. A spring 32 tends to move the lever to a position where the plunger will be in groove 35.

A disk 40 mounted on a shaft 41 journaled in the pedestal, has a pocket 42 adapted to receive a coin; the depth of this pocket is such that the coin protrudes, and when the disk is rotated the coin acts as a cam. The free end of lever 20, being in the path of the protruding coin, is rocked thereby, and through its slot and pin connection, and the link 29, it swings the lever 30 'to the right as seen in Figs. 1 and 4. The plunger 31 is cammed outward by the beveled edge of the rib 38 thereby permitting the lever to move, the plunger finally dropping into groove 36 thereby preventing the lever returning to its normal position.

The shaft 18 and arm 19 having been rocked in unison with the lever 20, the pawl 21, which by virtue of the pin 23 is at this time substantially integral with the arm 19, has been lifted out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 17. The crank, and shaft 14, may now be rotated in a counter clock-wise direction as seen in Fig. V5 which, through the medium of gear 13, will lift the rack 12. The` shaft may be rotated until the rack reaches the end of its stroke, the plunger 31 sliding in the groove 36. Reversing the direction of rotation, the lever 30 bein-g urged to the left by spring 32 the plunger will pass through the first one of the oblique grooves 37, from which time the rack will complete its movement with the plunger sliding in the groove 35. As long as the plunger remains in the groove 36 the pawl 21 is out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 17. Conversely, when the plunger returns to groove the pawl rengages the teeth of the ratchet wheel. But as the pawl is pivotallymounted on the arm 19 it is free to lift and ride over the teeth of the wheel as the rack returns to its normal position. As long as the plunger is in groove 35 the pawl prevents upward movement of the rack.

Therefore, when the rack arrives at its low# est position, it is immovable in either direction.

A chute 45 is provided by which coins are conducted to the pocket 42. For reasons which will presently be explained the pocket may not register with the ends of the chute at the time a coin is inserted. After the coin is inserted, however, the customer rotates the disk by means of the knob 43 until the pocket arrives at the point where the coin can enter; continued rotation. of the disk rocks the lever 2O as has been described. Fig. 4 illustrates the disposition of the coin after it has performed its work; having passed the lever 20 continued rotation of the disk `4Opermits the coin to fall from the pocket. A guide 46 and a lever 47, which latter while in the position it occupies in Fig. 4 acts as a guide, direct the coin so that it falls into the till 48. Should the coin be deficient in diameter it will not rock the lever 20 far enough to throw the lever 30 to a point where the plunger 31 can drop into the groove 36 in which case the parts return to the position they occupied in Fig. 1 as soon as the coin passes the end of the lever 20. The lever 47 is connected by a link 49 to the lever 30; F-i-g. 4 shows the disposition of the lever 47 if the coin is of suffi- Y cient size while Fig. 1 shows the lever 47 in its normal position to which position it will return before the rejected coin has fallen stack of folded from the pocket. Therefore, when the rejected coin falls from the pocket the lever 47, which carries a shield 50, directs the coin to a chute 51, the end of which protrudes through the casing. It is, therefore, clear how rejected coins are returned to the purchaser.

l/Vhile the purchaser may rotate the knob 43 to a point where the coin will fall out-of the pocket, to guard against his failure to do so and insure that his coin if rejected will be returned to him-as the coin may be genuine though slightly below the required size-the shaft 41 carries a loosely mounted beveled gear 55 which carries a springpressed pawl 56 adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet wh'eel 57 rigidly secured to the shaft 41. A beveled gear 58 rigidly mounted on the shaft 14 enmeshes with and rotates gear 55 when the shaft 14 is rotated. The teeth of the ratchet 57 are so inclined that the disk 40 may be rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 1` without moving the shaft 14. On the other hand the rotation of the shaft 14 rotates the disk 40; therefore, it makes no difference what position Athe purchaser leaves the disk in after he has rotated it far enough to unlock the machine. A pawl 60 coperates withthe teeth of the ratchet wheel 61 rigidly secured to the shaft 4'1, to prevent retrograde movement of the disk 40.

A register 62, which may be of any well known form, is connected by a link 63 to the lever 30, the attachment to said lever being at a point where, when the lever is thrown far enough to permit the plunger 31 to drop intothe groove 36, the register will register one. A movement of the lever 30 less than enough to permit the plunger to drop into groove 36 is insuflicient to actuate the register. Therefore, the register only operates when the coin purchases.

A gear 65 rigidly secured to the shaft 14 drives, through an idler 66, a gear 67 rigidly secured .to shaft 68. A gear 69 rigidly secured to the other end of said shaft meshes with a rack bar 70 embedded in a plate 71, the reverse side of said rack being substantially flush with the upper surface of said late. A pair of V-shaped vertical guides 2 is mounted above the plate 71, the lower ends of thel guides reaching to within a short distance of the plate. The guides are of a shape suitable to receive and support a paper cups 73, upon theltop of which stack a Weight 74, also of such shape as to be kept in place bythe guides 72, is laid. The rack 70 carries a` lug 75 which, when the parts of the machine are in normal position, projects above the plate 71 at the rear of the stack of cups. When the shaft 14 is rotated the rack 70 is moved in a direction which will draw the lug 75 under the stack of cups. The lug carries the bottom and described, while remaining within the" cup withit, the ends of the guides 72 being -enough above the plate 71 to permit one cup customer to take hold of it and draw it out.y

The rod 15 is .connected to the piston of a pump 8() situated in a reservoir 81. No detailed description of the pump is required, it being an ordinary force pump having a suction pipe 82 and discharge spout 83; `When the piston is lifted fluid is drawn into the pump, which is discharged from the pump through the spout 83 upon the outward motion of the rod 15.

The operation of the machine will'now be readily understood; the purchaser having inserted a coin in the chute 45 he turns the knob 43 far enough to unlock the-machine. Rotating thev handle toward him as.

far as it will go performs two functions: it projects a cup through the aperture in the frontof the casing and fills the pump 80 with the fluid contained in the reservoir. The purchaser unfolds the cup and holds it under the spout 83 while he returns the handle to its normal position, that shown in Figs. l and 2, which operation forces the fluidfrom the pump through the spout 83 into the cup.

I am aware that various `departures may be made from the specific structure shown scope of my claims.

What I claim is as follows:

1. In a dispensing device, means for delivering a cup, `a reservoir, a spout above the level of the liquid in the reservoir, a

pump which elevates an equal quantity of said liquid to the spout at each operation,

and a manually actuated element which operates the cup delivering means and pump, causing the first to deliver .a cup and the latter to elevate the liquid to'the spout, the operation being so timed that the cups and liquid are delivered alternately.

2. In a dispensing device, means for delivering a cup, a reservoir, a spout above the level of the liquid in the reservoir, a pump within the reservoir which elevates an equal quantity of liquid tothe spout at each operation, and a manually actuatedelement which alternately operates the cup delivering means and the pump, whereby a cup is first delivered and the liquid then elevated to the spout.

3. In a dispensing device, a rack, means for reciprocating it, 4a reservoir, a spout, a pump connected to the rack and adapted to draw liquid from the reservoir when the rack moves in one direction and discharge said liquid from the spout when the rack moves in the opposite direction, and a cup delivering device connected to and operated simultaneously with the rack and adapted to deliver a cup while the liquid is being drawn from the reservoir.

All. In a dispensingdevice, a reservoir, a spout, a pump adapted to draw liquid from the reservoir and discharge it from the spout, a rack connected to the piston of the pump, a pinion enmeshed with the rack, l

lmechanism to prevent the rack moving in one direction, means for disabling said mechanism `and means for restoring it, the restoring means being operated by a slight movement of the rack in the direction not affected by said mechanism.

A 6. In a vending machine, in combination: a shaft, two gearsrigidly secured thereto, each being enmeshed with a rack, one rack being connected tothe piston of a force pump and the other embedded in the surface of a horizontal plate and having a lug projecting above said plate,`means for rotating said shaft, and means for locking one of the gears against'rotation; guides for holding a stack of foldedl cups, said stack being so located thatAwhen the shaft is rotated in one direction the llug pushes the bottom cup ROLLYN H. BAKER.

Witnesses:

J.,A. Won'rMAN, F. K. FAssE'r'r. 

